Save or revert paychecks in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

Learn what to do if you're in the middle of a payroll and can't finish it.

Are you in the middle of a payroll and realize that you forgot something? Or maybe you need to make changes to the employees’ setup and install some updates. QuickBooks Desktop lets you save your paycheck and resume it later without losing any of your progress. 

You can also choose to revert paychecks if there are changes or new updates installed.  When you revert a paycheck, it goes back to the original info. Then you can apply the new changes or updates installed.

Save your paychecks and continue later

1. Go to Employees, then select Pay Employees.
2. Select Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
   • Select the appropriate schedule (for scheduled payroll) in the Create Paychecks section, then select Start Scheduled Payroll.
   • Verify the pay period end date, and the check date ( for unscheduled payroll), then select the employees you’d have to run payroll for.
3. Select Open Paycheck detail to see everyone’s paycheck details.
4. Select Save & Next to go to the next employee.
5. Select Save & Close.
6. Select Finish Later. 

Resume your saved payroll

When you’re ready to finish payroll, you may resume the payroll you’ve saved.

1. Go to Employees, then select Pay Employees
2. Select Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
3. Select Resume Scheduled Payroll.

Revert your employees paychecks

If you saved payroll data before you installed a payroll update, or made changes to your employee's tax information, you need to revert the paychecks. It’ll undo the payroll data that's saved before the update. 

1. Go to Employees, then select Pay Employees
2. Select Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
3. Select Resume Scheduled Payroll. You’ll see some employees’ names highlighted in yellow. These are the employees that have had changes.
4. Right-click on the employee name that’s highlighted in yellow.
5. Select Revert Paychecks.